Sunday, August 05, 2007

Rice: Saudi arms deal important to protect U.S. allies from Iran

Above: Iranian President Ahmadinejad and Saudi King Abdullah meeting in Riyadh in February. Though Saudi official reports focused on ending regional sectarian strife, Iran's official reports quoted Ahmadinejad as saying that "Both Iran and Saudi Arabia are aware of the enemies' conspiracies, and while condemning these conspiracies, we invite all Muslims to be aware of the enemies' plans with wisdom," and further, "About the Palestinian and Iraqi issues, we had discussions in detail. In many cases, we had a common point of view. Both countries oppose the enemies' control over the Islamic region."

WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday that a planned arms deal with Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations was an important move to protect U.S. allies in the Gulf region from Iran .

The recently proposed arms deal has come under criticism at a time that U.S. officials have said that Saudi Arabia has not done enough to help stabilize neighboring Iraq .

But Rice, speaking on "Fox News Sunday," said the deal was important to protect U.S. allies against Iran's growing power in the region.

"Certainly, we want our allies and strategic partners in the region to be well defended," she said. "It makes no sense to leave our longtime strategic allies undefended in a region in which Iranian and other challenges are growing."